Taylor Stays on Top

8/22/2007 Stephen L. Betts   Taylor Swift's self-titled debut disc remains atop the Billboard country album chart for a fifth big week. With that feat, Taylor becomes the only country artist in 2007 to spend five consecutive weeks at No. 1, putting her in the company of superstars Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts and the Dixie Chicks, all of whom logged five or more consecutive weeks at the top in 2006. Taylor Swift reached the top of the country sales chart in its 39th week in stores, an extraordinary feat reminiscent of the Dixie Chicks’ 51-week climb to No. 1 in 1999 with their debut CD, Wide Open Spaces. Earlier this summer Taylor secured her place in country music history as the only female solo artist in country- music history to write or co-write every song on a platinum-selling debut. Just last night Taylor performed live in front of more than 15 million television viewers as a special guest on NBC-TV’s highest-rated show America’s Got Talent. Also this week, she passed the 23 million mark for music streams on her MySpace page. Taylor Swift is the first No. 1 album for Big Machine Records.